Fear, Family and Fading to Black
by emzypemzy
Summary: When one of the agents goes missing they must pull together to find them before it's too late; with the return of an old member will they make it in time? Case fic/Team fic. Set after The Thirteenth Step.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: **__So, it's been a while again...  
This is a complete change from what I usually write and it's been somewhat of a challenge for (and to) myself but what the muse wants, the muse gets ;)_

_Premise: Seaver never stayed on with the team and this is set sometime after "The Thirteenth Step" onwards and is AU from then._

_The case is entirely fictional and I'm taking writer's liberties with the places mentioned. I tried to be semi-accurate but when you don't live in America there's only so much you can do! This is partially written so updates every other day._

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds. **_

* * *

_**Prologue**_

_**There are things we don't want to happen but have to accept**__...things we don't want to know but have to learn...people we can't live without but have to let go..._

Jennifer Jareau wasn't one to complain, never had been and never would, but today she was knackered. She'd been run off her feet for the past week, chasing every shred of information that passed her desk back to its source and trying to diffuse the situations they had caused and she wanted nothing more than to go home to her fiancé and her son despite it only being 9am and she'd only been in work for half an hour. Her intray was already overflowing. She was good at this job, she knew she was, and those she now worked with knew it too; after grossly underestimating the blonde she had taken great pleasure in showing them just how wrong some of their first impressions were. That, however, did not mean that it didn't affect her sometimes, didn't get under her skin and didn't make her miss her old job, her family.

Today was set to be a particularly busy day for her, and it was about to become a whole lot more hectic; but not in a way she could ever have anticipated.

She was on the first file for today and she'd planned and organised so as to be out of there by 6pm when her eye caught on the picture on her desk and she couldn't help the somewhat sad smile that pulled at her lips. It was taken at one of the FBI family gatherings from the middle of summer, the sun was shining and every single one of them was laughing and smiling as the camera had flashed. Will, Henry and she were cocooned in the middle of her friends as they had enjoyed the summer sun and the oh-so-rare case-free afternoon. It was one of her favourite pictures and as much as it made her miss her old job when she saw it, it also reminded her to be like them and to keep them with her every day as she worked her ass off in a job that she had taken, not out of want but out of duty; she hadn't had a choice. Her family had helped make her who she was, make her who the Pentagon had wanted so badly so it only made sense to draw from them for love, for comfort, for courage and for strength and that was that picture reminded her to do.

Smiling fully now as she finished the last line of the report she signed it with a flourish; one down and it wasn't even her first meeting of the day yet.

As she was striding purposefully out of her office, trading good mornings with her new colleagues that funny feeling that had been sitting in her very bones since she woke up that morning came back again, it was like her body was trying to tell her that something wasn't right but she just didn't know what and it was beginning to worry her; Hotch had always taught her to trust her body's instincts after all and these were more than just some inane worries, something wasn't right, really not right.

And that's when it happened. She had to grab on to Johnson's desk as her knees almost gave way from beneath her as the reporter on the television suddenly blared to life.

"_It has been confirmed by a source within the FBI itself that one of their own agents has been taken hostage after interviewing a friend of the family of the missing girl, Jo Hallens in Norfolk, the most recent abductee in a chain of as yet unsolved cases throughout the city...and I can now report that this agent is a part of the elite Behaviour Analysis Unit based in Quantico, Virginia. At this time we do not know the exact details of the case on which this highly skilled team was work..." _

The rest of the words faded into one big blur as her head spun and her throat constricted; someone had taken one of her family. One of her _family_ was in danger.

A reassuring hand on her shoulder encouraged her to look up, finding Johnson standing over her, worry marred his features;

"That used to be your team, didn't it?" He asked although he already knew the answer. "Do you need me to call someone?"

She pulled herself together at his caring tone and his concern for her when it wasn't her that anybody needed to be worried about, it was _her team_ that they should be worrying about. She straightened up, setting her shoulders back in a determined stance, and taking one last glance at the flashing red news update, she turned back to face her new colleague and friend;

"Tell Garrett I've had to leave, family emergency." She said as a sense of determination set in; she had to get there.

Johnson nodded crisply, knowing he would be doing that exact same thing if he was in her position.

"I need to find out who it is, I need to help them." She said more to herself than to him before she marched her way out of her new workplace, hoping that her new boss would be sympathetic although not really caring; it was her family in peril after all, and she couldn't sit by and do nothing. It wasn't in her nature.

As she climbed behind the wheel of her car her mind was consumed with worry; what if it was Reid, could he take it after the Henkel case? Or Hotch, Rossi, Morgan or Emily? Could it be Garcia? No matter which one of them she knew that a part of her was taken when they were and the only place she wanted to be right there and then was with them, helping them. Where else _could _she be?

Her hands grasped the steering wheel so hard her knuckles turned white and she had to take a few deep breaths to calm herself down before she plugged her phone into the car headset and started to drive, pressing her speed dial and praying that he would answer on the first ring, she had other calls to make, too.

"Jay-Jay," Will's familiar southern drawl sounded in her ear, so relaxed and unhurried.

"Will..." She began but faltered, unable and somewhat unwilling to say the words out loud because that would make this all the more real.

"Jay-je, what's happening? Jen, what's wrong?" He demanded into the silence that followed, worry and fear lacing his usual thick accent. He could hear her breathing shake and knew that whatever it was it was bad, very bad. "Jen..." He implored softly, wondering what had her so rattled and upset.

"Someone's taken one of them hostage, Will...hostage." She said in reply, so softly that he may have missed it had he not known to expect the quiet admission; it was JJ's way after all. He knew straight away who 'they' were and his eyes widened, no wonder she was so upset.

"Where are they?" Was his next question, boycotting asking whether she was going to them because _of course she was_.

"Norfolk." She said on a breath, glad that he understood what she had to do without her having to say it.

"I'll meet you there as soon as my shift's done; I'll pick Henry up and drop him off at –"

"Bring him with you?" She almost pleaded as the need to see all her family overcame her as she pulled onto the highway, heading towards where she needed to be.

"Of course. Drive safe. Love you." He said, understanding the things that she wasn't saying as much as those she had.

"Love you." She replied into the headset before hanging up. She quickly pressed number 2 on her speed dial once the first call ended. Her heart began to pound, she could hear the blood rushing in her ears, she had to know who it was; _she had to_. And she had to get there, now.

After a few rings went unanswered she was impatient, after more she was beginning to panic and when the voicemail kicked in she put her foot on the gas pedal and willed her car to take her there as quickly and safely as it could while she left a rambling message, media liaison she was not; at least not right now.

As she drove she kept trying her other speed dialled numbers, wishing hoping and praying that somebody would pick up. She needed one of them could tell her what was going on, if even just to hear their voice and know some of them, one of them, was there but nobody was answering and her heart wouldn't stop pounding, her mind wouldn't stop coming to all sorts of conclusions and her hands gripped the steering wheel ever tighter as she raced along the roads to make it to her family, she only hoped she made it there in time to be of some help.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: **__Glad you lot are enjoying it so far! Thanks for reading and thanks for the reviews, it means a lot considering this story is completely out of my 'comfort zone' :) ___

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.

* * *

_**Chapter 1**__**things we don't want to know but have to learn...**__people we can't live without but have to let go..._

There are things we don't want to happen but have to accept...

The police station was caught in a moment of turmoil, the rookies, the veterans and even the agents were all engulfed in a moment of chaos. And why?

One of their own had been taken.

And not only that but they had been snatched from what should have been a few background questions answered and then a few minute drive back to the station. Instead the background questions had ended in a spade to the back of the head and a note left on the door step:

_Leave us alone._

Among the confusion and slight panic created by this development in the case the BAU team were gathered together in deep discussion, their fear and panic hidden from view; they had a job to do, a profile to re-think and they also had to find their friend.

* * *

Hotch nodded in agreement with their assessment of the situation and took a step towards the Police Chief's office; ready to begin further neutralisation of the panic. They needed everyone focused and briefed on what this change to the UNSUB's MO meant and they needed to do it fast; time was of the essence. Garcia was preparing for the imminent press conference with Morgan by her side; they weren't taking any chances, while the rest of them had worked on possible theories ready to present them to the locals.

As they began to brief the available police officers there was a commotion in the entrance and everyone in the room seemed to, collectively and instinctively, look towards it. A familiar voice sounded in irritation:

"I used to work with them, now let – me - through!" As none other than Jennifer Jareau came barrelling into the main precinct, with two uniformed officers hot on her heels.

"We tried to stop her, Agent Hotchner, but she-oof." The officer stopped short when he barrelled into the back of the blonde who had suddenly stopped in front of him.

JJ was in shock, her eyes widened and her mouth went dry as the reality of the situation hit her; it had still felt a little surreal as she drove here in a fit of panic but now, faced with her old colleagues and friends it truly sunk in; this was actually happening.

"It's fine." Hotch said, placating the men; he knew that no matter who had been at that door Jennifer Jareau would've made her way through them and he cursed himself for not calling her before now, it was an unforgivable oversight really.

"What's happening?" JJ asked, switching suddenly from shock to 'Agent Jareau' mode.

"Rossi." Hotch requested and with that word JJ knew to follow him and all would be explained.

As she followed the older agent the others began their profile and her mind began whirring once more; who was gone? She needed to know.

"It's Prentiss." He said before she could even ask the question. "Morgan and Garcia are preparing for the press conference."

"Wha- How?" She spluttered, her composure flying out the window, one of her best friends had been kidnapped.

"She went to ask a neighbour some follow-up questions and someone - we're assuming the UNSUB - got her when she was leaving; it's a relatively quiet area and nobody seems to have seen anything."

"The first forty-eight hours after an abduction are the most crucial and the first three hours is when most are..." She said automatically, trailing off when she realised the implications of her thoughts, unable to voice them out loud.

"Looks like you picked something up from our Boy Genius." Rossi joked, trying to lighten the tension that had filled the room. JJ cracked a shaky smile.

"What do you need me to do? Has somebody called Ambassador Prentiss? She can't find out from the T.V." She said, straightening her back and looking him square in the eye: Supervisory Special Agent Jareau was now back and in business.

"Hotch took care of that." He said, more than aware that the words _'like I did'_ that had hung between them after her statement.

"Good. Hold on, you said you're _assuming_ it was the UNSUB, who else could it be?" JJ asked as her brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"Prentiss hasn't quite been herself lately; jumpy, more withdrawn and more than a little frightened. We're just concerned that everything's not as it seems..." he trailed off, hoping that maybe JJ could shed some light on the situation.

"She has sounded a little off on the phone lately but I just assumed it was the cases taking their toll, even Emily's compartmentalisation has to slip sometimes. But maybe it was something else..." the rest of her sentence dissolved on her tongue as she remembered something the older woman had said in their last conversation:

"_Sometimes the past is the one thing you can never outrun, especially when they catch up with you." _

At the time she hadn't thought anything more of it, they'd been talking about the latest case Emily had consulted on and it hadn't occurred to her to question the statement. Now she wished she had. What if Emily was in trouble? Where would that mean she was now? That put a whole new possible angle to this mess.

"What?" Rossi asked, worried at the sudden silence as the blonde's mind obviously whirled with thoughts.

"Just something she said, Dave, I think she might have been in trouble, before she was kidnapped. Something from her past; I just hope it is this UNSUB that has her, if it's not..."

"We need to get Garcia on it the second she's done." He said, for once hoping that the ex-Media Liaison was wrong as they headed to tell Hotch the other possibility.

* * *

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves Garcia readied herself to once again stand out on a podium and talk to the press. This time, however, it wasn't to bait an UNSUB into moving it was, instead, to try and quell the information that was at this moment being put into print about Emily's abduction and to try and reach out to the person that took her. It was a lot of pressure and she was more than aware of that fact.

Morgan's strong hands on her shoulders helped calm the rising panic that had begun to build when she peeked out into the conference room where the press were waiting; this was going to be horrendous, she had a feeling.

"You'll do just fine, Baby Girl." He said encouragingly while he massaged her shoulders gently. "Just be yourself and stay strong; stick to what we want them to know and then get out of there as soon as you can."

She nodded stiffly in response.

"I'll be right there by your side, just in case." He added, trying to relax her before she walked out there in front of the reporters. You could show no fear or discomfort when you were confronting them or they would exploit it to the fullest and he only hoped him being by her side would help her achieve that.

"Good." She said, blowing out a long breath before checking her watch: 1 o'clock. It was time. Rolling her shoulders back as Morgan's hands fell to his sides she strode forwards and pushed the door open, entering the room with a confident stride, ready to do what needed to be done.

The room erupted with noise; questions being yelled at her from all directions as flashes dotted her vision. Reaching the podium she turned to face the room and when she stepped up to the microphones there was a slight hush.

"Good afternoon. Thank you for being patient." She greeted the crowd of reporters with a small smile. "At this point we can confirm what the reports have been saying; SSA Emily Prentiss was abducted earlier this afternoon. We believe this was carried out by the same culprit that has been abducting young girls in this area."

Rossi observed JJ as she watched Garcia take the press conference from the side room. He noted the pride, the flash of hurt and the slight pang of longing cross her face. It was obvious that she missed her old job.

"You miss it?" He asked roughly.

"Every day. Well, maybe not all of the aspects of it but yeah, I do. But PG's doing a fantastic job." She replied and she almost beamed with pride at her friend's accomplishment.

"We continue to advise that children, specifically pre-teen and teenage girls, as well as young adults not to go out alone and if they must then to ensure they stay in well lit and busier areas. We will be issuing more information as and when we have it. Thank you." Garcia ended her spiel, ready to get out of the wolves' den as soon as she could. She had said all she needed to say.

The room erupted once again with question and after question. Squaring her shoulders she turned back to the podium and spoke loudly and clearly into the microphones:

"We will be taking no questions at this time; all of our team is needed in the hunt for Jo Hallens, SSA Prentiss and the man that we suspect is responsible for their abductions. Thank you." She said forcefully.

One question sounded above the rest as the crowd chanced their hand once again; "Can you confirm reports that the girls were all found with a doll clutched in their hands?"

Garcia flinched involuntarily, that piece of information had not been released to the media. Seeing the almost insignificant flinch the reporter circled back around like a vulture that could smell blood and went back in for the 'kill', repeating his question once again. The words seemed to resonate in the otherwise almost silent room. It seemed reporters could be quiet at times.

Chancing a glance at Morgan she pleaded with him to help her; she wasn't equipped to deal with this situation and he could see that she was slowly beginning to unravel with the stress of Emily's abduction and the worry about the press conference. Jumping to her rescue he stepped up beside her and tried to calm the now expanding questions, all stemming from the first man's question.

"As stated by SA Garcia we cannot take any questions right now and there will be another press conference scheduled for later today to keep everybody up to date." His deep voice boomed over the ruckus.

Still the questions did not subside and he chanced a glance at Penelope, catching the slight flash of panic that crossed her features.

Before he could repeat his statement and usher her out of there he felt a gentle but firm hand on his shoulder pushing him back slightly and a familiar figure shrouded in blonde hair appeared between him and Penelope.

Confusion was written plainly across their faces for a second before they covered it up quickly, stepping back and letting her have the floor; it was her stage after all.

"As my colleagues have informed you there will be no questions taken at this session. I _suggest _that you don't print anything without confirmation from us as this information is likely to be flawed or completely fabricated." A strange hush had come over the room as she spoke, her voice strong and her tone unwavering.

"This is a highly sensitive situation and each minute we remain here beating off your unsubstantiated questions is another minute that this UNSUB has Jo Hallens and our agent held under duress. We would ask you to respect that we need to work as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to get them both back safely. We urge you all," she continued, addressing those watching this broadcast as well as the reporters standing before her. "to contact us on the hotline if you have any information which could be of use to our investigation. This press conference is over. The next one is scheduled for 5:30pm tonight. We will have an update for you then. Good Afternoon."

When she finished there was still a few desperate reporters that tried to ask questions but most turned to their cameras and ended their segments. JJ ignored the last desperate questions, merely holding her hand up in a gesture of 'no' as she, Morgan and Garcia left the room.

* * *

The second they made it into the side room Garcia flung her arms around JJ, never more glad to see her friend as she had been at that moment. JJ clung on tight for a few seconds, taking comfort from the warm embrace.

"I've missed you." Garcia said into JJ's ear, her voice a little wobbly.

"Right back at ya." JJ replied, giving her one last squeeze as she blinked back the tears that had been threatening to fall since she had heard the news bulletin this morning.

"Sorry about just barging out there. I was on auto-pilot and just couldn't stand and do nothing." JJ said more to Hotch than anybody else; she wasn't an agent anymore, at least not with them, and she had taken over. She didn't think he would have a problem with it but those higher up might, and she just hoped they realised the circumstances were exceptional. Hotch just nodded in understanding; it was fine, they would deal it later, it wasn't important now.

"You were fantastic out there, Jayje." Morgan said. "Thanks for saving ours asses." He chuckled a little.

"This is why they shouldn't have just been able to take you away." Came Reid's soft voice from her left and JJ's head spun around to lock eyes with him; he looked like a lost puppy, almost like had when she had said goodbye in the bullpen that day.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: **Thanks for reading, reviewing and alerting guys!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds**

* * *

**____**

**_Chapter 2_**

"_This is why they shouldn't have just been able to take you away." Came Reid's soft voice from her left and JJ's head spun around to lock eyes with him; he looked like a lost puppy, almost like had when she had said goodbye in the bullpen that day._

"They shouldn't have been able to, no, but they can and they did." She agreed somewhat sadly but it was obvious she had accepted her fate, no matter how much she didn't want it. "Besides, Garcia was doing great. Give it another few of those and you'll feel like its second nature." JJ said with a reassuring smile towards her friend before her expression grew serious once more. "Now, someone explain to me how we're going to get Emily back?"

"I think you just helped us do that, sweetie pie, it's highly likely that this UNSUB is going to call into the tip line after that wonderful display of yours or that someone will have seen something and their memories will be jogged after watching that fine display of Jareau-charm." Garcia said with a grin, a slight rouge tint still colouring her cheeks after JJ's compliment; she didn't think JJ would ever know just how much that meant to her.

"Check you out, Garcie, picking up the lingo and the ideas." JJ teased with a half-smile to lighten the mood a little more.

"Well thanks, sugar, I do tr-"

"AGENT HOTCHNER!" came a yell from the next room over; the hotline base.

"Reid you and Morgan take Geography; Garcia, try and trace her cell phone again, he may not have found it on her and she'll use it if she can." He hesitated for a second, giving Morgan and Reid enough time to be out of earshot – he didn't need even more members of his team worrying about more until they could prove or disprove the new theory - before adding: "And while that's running we need you to find everything you can on her past." His request was met by Garcia's brows drawing together as she protested:

"But sir-"

"We need to be prepared in case it's not our UNSUB that has her and with her recent behaviour and some comments she has made to JJ we need to know everything."

Garcia nodded, her manner resigned and yet determined as she headed to her make-shift lair.

"Rossi, JJ, with me."

The dark mood that had been circling the team set in once more as the reality of the situation hit home with a vengeance.

* * *

"Come on JJ, pick up, pick up, pick up." Will chanted softly into the phone as he turned the car on to the highway, heading for Norfolk.

It was the fourth time he had tried to ring her and he was seriously beginning to worry even though he knew that by now she must be with her team and they would keep her safe..._like they had whoever was missing?_ A stray thought niggled at him before he cursed as her voice mail picked up.

"You've reached Jennifer Jareau, sorry I can't take your call right now but please leave me a message after the beep and I'll get back to you."

Hanging up again he groaned in frustration before buckling a sleeping Henry into his car seat and getting ready to set off.

* * *

Feeling her phone vibrating on her hip once again, JJ tore her gaze away from the rookie long enough to catch the caller ID: Will.

Spying JJ's expression Hotch spoke softly and firmly, knowing her answering that call would be the only way she'd be focused: "Go, answer it, we've got this."

Nodding quickly before turning her back and taking a few steps out of the hotline base she picked up the phone.

"Jay-jay, finally!" Will said and the worry he was feeling was evident in his voice. "Thank god you're OK, I was-"

"Someone's got Emily." She interrupted his rambling with a soft voice; he stopped as abruptly as if she had shouted them.

"You'll find her." He said confidently, knowing right now JJ didn't need or want to be placated. When all he could hear was her taking a deep breath on the other end of the line he knew she was trying to hold it together; it'd taken a lot out of her after being forced to leave the team but for one of them to be missing while she couldn't have helped? That had to be killing her. "We're on our way." He said, offering a distraction for a moment. "The little guy's sound asleep. I just hope he sleeps the whole way. He looks so peaceful."

"Give him a kiss for me." She said softly, blinking back any tears that were threatening to fall, she had to be strong, for the team, for herself and for Emily.

"I shall do, babe. Anything else I can do?" He asked, feeling slightly helpless from where he was now.

"Just get here, Will, I just need to know you're there."

"Always." He said softly, his southern accent drawing the word out.

"We have a lead." Hotch almost bellowed at her as he came out of the room and she stammered a quick goodbye to Will before falling in step with him and Rossi.

"Neighbour saw a blue sedan, similar in description to that seen around the time Jo Hallens disappeared, drive by her house late last night and leave again this morning. She lives in a rather remote area; nobody apparently lives in the next house along." Hotch filled her in. "And Prentiss was taken from a few streets over."

JJ could have grinned; they might know where Emily was! She would have grinned if she hadn't been far too worried; having an idea of where she could be and actually finding her were two completely different things.

"We need a SWAT team and a handful of officers ready to leave now." Hotch ordered to those officers who were in the incident room. "Let's get a move on."

"JJ, get Morgan and Reid and tell them to meet us at the address." Rossi said, "You stay here in case the UNSUB calls, he'll have seen you on TV, chances are he'll talk to you or at least stay on the line long enough for Garcia to trace him. And Garcia, you can drop the side search, it has to be our guy."

"Yes Bossman." She replied, relieved that she no longer had to look into her friend's background. She had known it was only to help Emily but she still felt like she was snooping, especially because she was such a private person normally. That was part of the reason why she'd set up the search in the background and had been focusing on the cell phone. It had already yielded some basic results but those were all the things the team knew already and she was glad she could stop it before they found out more than Emily had shared. She didn't want to dig into her past unless she absolutely had to.

"JJ, stay here with Garcia. We'll keep you up to date." He ordered as he grabbed a set of SUV keys and headed for the door.

When she tried to protest Hotch spoke up again: "You're a civilian JJ, at least right now. You can't be there."

"Yes, sir." She replied, almost out of habit before almost running towards the conference room to alert Morgan and Reid to the latest development.

Despite the circumstances, JJ couldn't help feel like she was back 'home'.

* * *

As he stalked down the hall to the last room on their floor, gun drawn in front of him and Rossi following behind him, Morgan was hoping against all hope that when they opened that door in front of them they would find Prentiss relatively unharmed. But he would even settle for alive; he was going to need his partner back soon.

Motioning for Rossi to take the other side of the door he tried the handle, his heart rate accelerating when it stuck; it was locked.

Nodding to Rossi, telling him to be ready, Morgan took a step back and kicked at the door, splintering it under the force and he and Rossi called out: "FBI, nobody move." As they entered the room, guns drawn and eyes trained for any sign of movement.

They needn't have bothered; the room was as empty as all the other rooms on this floor.

"Clear." They both shouted, alerting the rest of the team.

"Dammnit." Morgan ground out in frustration, "I thought we had him."

"We all hoped we had." Rossi said in quiet agreement.

* * *

As they were buckling up and heading back along the dirt road, disappointed and frustrated, the ringing of Hotch's phone breaks the somewhat tense silence: "I think I may have found where his centre is; seventy four Seacrest Avenue."

"That's where we are right now, there was nothing here." Morgan said irritably.

"JJ where was this on the location map?" Reid asked suddenly, a slight hint of excitement in his voice as he got that familiar far off look in his eye.

"A bit further North than your yellow marker." She answered, not even questioning where this was going; Spencer Reid's logic was after all, Spencer Reid's logic and as a result best left to figure out after the fact.

"She's right." He said after a moment of in depth thought as they turned back on to the main road. "This would have been just off-centre, there may not be anything there now but at some point whatever was at that address meant a great deal to this UNSUB and the change in his MO and his routine came with taking Emily and it sent him back here. She rattled him asking questions so close to here; it must mean something."

"Get Garcia on it; find out what used to be here." Hotch ordered, "We'll be back at the station soon."


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**__Thanks once again for the reviews, alerts and for reading! And thanks to sangreal7 for giving this the once over before I posted :)_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds**_

_**Chapter 3  
**_

"Hotch needs us to look into the address they were sent to, see what it used to be. Reid thinks it is or was his centre." JJ said as she walked up behind Garcia. Noting the flashing red box in the bottom right of one of the monitors her curiosity got the better of her.

"Garcia..." she said, causing her friend to turn around at the prompting. "What does that mean?"

"It-" she stuttered, "It means my babies found something on our beloved Prentiss that isn't in any of the usual databases. It means that it's high security information." She said her voice tight with worry. "I didn't get a chance to cancel all of my searches yet."

"What do we do?" JJ asked, she was curious but it was her friend's private life and who was she to pry?

"I- I don't know Jayje." Garcia said, obviously uncomfortable. "She's been awful distracted lately and we've all been worried about her..." Garcia let the rest of the sentence hang in the air between them: _maybe it wouldn't hurt to look, just in case._Before they could deliberate any further the bleeping started again and another red box popped up.

"I didn't know Emily worked for Interpol, did you?" Garcia asked. Her curiosity level rose when the code that streamed across the box alerted her to the database in which the information was found.

"No." JJ said softly wondering why she didn't considering she had read every team members' file.

"What do we do?" Garcia asked again as her emotions battled it out in her mind; to look or not to look, to invade her friend's privacy or to find out what was going on with her past so they could help?

"I don't –" JJ began before breaking off with a shake of her head. "We leave it just now; we need to find out about this house. If we can help them find out where Emily is now then it won't matter and we can try and find out what's going on with her lately when she comes home."

"Good call, Jayje, I really have missed you and your Jareau-logic." Garcia said with a light smile as she shut the remaining searches on Emily down.

* * *

"What've you got on that house then, PG?" JJ asked as she re-entered the room with two steaming cups of coffee.

"Ah coffee for secrets, I like your trade-offs." Garcia teased before taking a sip of the proffered liquid; it was definitely needed just now.

"I know how to ply a goddess to get what I need." JJ teased back loving the familiar back and forth.

Garcia's laptop made what JJ could only describe as a tinkling sound and her red headed friend abandoned the coffee for the monitor.

"No wonder my search took longer. There's _loads_ on this place, and most of it good, but not all of it." Garcia said with a wince at some of the news stories.

"What is it?"

"It used to be a children's home. It had an almost perfect record minus a few troublesome kids all the way up until 2001 when it was shut down unexpectedly after a 13 year old girl, Harriet Lowe, died in suspicious circumstances. She was found in the woods not far from the house by her friend Gary Fraser, 12, who also lived at the home. She was thought to be strangled but the actual cause of death was found to be drowning, that was never released to the press. The boy who found her was convicted of her murder after a whole load of circumstantial evidence was found and they had no other suspects." Garcia rattled off the details quickly. "He was sent to Juvie and was released in 2007 when he was 18 after no retrial was carried out due to such circumstantial evidence, the fact that he forever pled his innocence and that she didn't have any family to fight for her." Garcia ended sadly, thinking:_ the poor girl_.

"That would make this year the ten year anniversary of her death." JJ mused aloud. "He'd be 22 now."

"Seriously, honey, are you channelling Reid today or something?" Garcia asked with a smirk.

"What did she look like, the girl who was killed?" JJ asked, completely oblivious to Garcia's teasing at that moment as the familiar rush of adrenaline kicked in - they could have found their UNSUB.

"She was relatively tall and she had dark hair and strong features." Garcia said, while searching for other pictures of the girl that could give her a better description. "Here, take a look; she's almost the spitting image of the others."

JJ was already on the phone the second her eyes hit the screen.

"We think we've got our guy." JJ said, jumping straight to the point. "Gary Fraser, 22, used to live at the house you've just come from. He was convicted of killing another child who lived at the house; she's almost the spitting image of our victims, Hotch."

"That doesn't help Emily right now; we need to find out where he is." He almost barked down the phone at her.

She understood his frustration, they knew who he was now, sure, but they didn't know where to find him and they all knew that they were running on borrowed time, _Emily_ was running on borrowed time.

"Yes, sir, we'll call you when we have something."

"Good work, though, JJ." She heard tersely before the call was disconnected.

* * *

"Can you find out where her body was found, PG?" JJ asked suddenly, looking up from the piles of files with a familiar glint in her eye as she worked on instinct.

"Of course I can, Peaches, and without even breaking a sweat." She said as her fingers flew over the keyboard and within a few minutes she was rattling it off and showing JJ the map on her screen.

JJ added another yellow pin to the board, this time in the position of the little girl's body was found.

"It's almost in the centre of this circle, almost." JJ mused, scanning the wooded area surrounding it on the map for anything that could be his centre. "He's killing all around the outskirts of his comfort zone, but this one, this one is right there; almost in the middle. It's the most important because it's how we know who he is, but we need to _find_ him. He has to be living around this area somewhere; it's not too far from where he grew up or where the little girl was found, we just can't see it."

"You're beginning to sound a bit like Reid, Jayje." Garcia teases with a smile, pleased to have JJ back with them; it's almost like normal..._if Emily wasn't kidnapped_.

"We just can't see it!" She exclaimed, Garcia's words not registering in her mind as she spoke again: "Garcie, can you pull up old satellite images of this area?"

"It's not a question of can; it's a question of time." She replied, beginning her search the second the request left JJ's mouth. "And...here we go."

Looking at the picture on the board and comparing it to the one Garcia just located JJ's eyes were flicking between the two quickly, trying to spot something, anything.

And then she did.

"There." She said softly, pressing her finger to the screen, "there's a building of some sort in this picture but it's blocked almost entirely by the canopy of trees, and it's not in the new satellite images because the trees completely cover it."

"It's almost exactly on the centre and not too far from the Children's Home." Garcia says with pride in her voice at JJ's quick thinking.

JJ grabbed her cell phone from her belt and hit speed dial: "Hotch, we have a possible location."

He quickly pressed the speaker button and as the address and GPS location of their next lead sounded in the otherwise silent car Morgan spun the car back around and headed back in the direction they came.

If they were right they'd hopefully be there in time to save Emily.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: **_I'm just imagining what this'd feel like...I've never been hit over the head with a shovel :P On a more serious note, thanks again to sangreal_7 for giving it a once over when I was unsure! And klcm for allowing me to idea bounce.

**_Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds_**

* * *

_**Chapter 4**_

After hearing the dial tone in her ear it took JJ all of two seconds to decide that she couldn't sit here and wait for news. She didn't care that she was technically just an American citizen right now, all she cared about was the fact that her friend and a little girl needed their help. She couldn't stay here knowing that the rest of the team would be there trying to save them. Her Agent Jareau mask of professionalism and calm automatically slid into place as she snatched a set of Sheriff issued SUV keys from the desk and marched for the door.

"Jayje! Don't leave me here!" Garcia exclaimed, not even needing to question where she was headed. It was the only place any of them would have wanted to be; in the thick of it right there so that they would know what was going on the second it happened – whether it be good news or, god help them, bad news.

"I wouldn't dream of it." She replied, catching herself on the door frame and turning back to look at the colourfully dressed technical analyst.

"Let's go help get our friend back." She said softly as Garcia made it to her side.

A determined nod was all the answer she got and when they made it to the car there was another nod in agreement before JJ flipped the switch and the sirens blared to life. They'd keep them on until they got within a couple of miles of the area, then they'd make the rest without them, Emily's life could depend on them going unnoticed until the last minute and neither was willing to jeopardize that.

* * *

She groaned as she finally managed to force her eyes to open; her head was pounding and her vision was dotted with black spots as the light hit her eyes causing her to screw them shut once more. Trying to move her body into a more comfortable position her eyes flew open once again, this time in alarm as she realised she was tied up. The ties bit into her skin as she struggled for a second before taking a few breaths to calm herself down. What happened? She thought to herself, straining her mind to remember.

A flash of panic invaded her mind as it turned to Doyle, had he finally resurfaced and found her? She tried harder to work through the haze of memories to discover the last thing she could remember. She'd been in the SUV, she'd been driving, she'd..._she couldn't remember._

Groaning in frustration at the lack of memory she breathed out a jagged breath before taking a much deeper and calmer one in. She tried to focus on shutting out the pain in order to clear her mind.

A few minutes of forcing her compartmentalisation and visualisation skills to their limits finally let her remember.

_She had been going to re-interview Mrs Howard, an elderly woman who had come forward after watching the news about Jo Hallens abduction and they had to clear a few details up and as she was leaving...BANG. Everything went black and she was tumbling forward, landing on her knees with a crunch as they connected with the gravel._

And now she was here, wherever here was. She could make an educated guess of who had left her in this position though as this was definitely too low calibre for someone like Ian Doyle who, she knew, would still have his flair for the dramatic.

Taking a deep breath against the pounding in her head and the aching in her arms from being tied behind her she reminded herself of her training: _use all of your senses_. Shoving up another internal wall against the pain and shutting her eyes she focused on her surroundings; the smell of them – _dust and old wood_ – and the sounds around her – _someone was pacing next door, muttering something, to someone or to them self she couldn't tell. _She tried to open her eyes and attempt to survey her surroundings visually again when another, softer, sound caught her ears and she screwed her eyes shut tighter to make sure she wasn't hearing things; _someone was breathing_...in the room. Her heart began to race.

"Are you okay?" a soft voice asked from the other side of the room and Emily's eyes flew open. She tried to move towards the voice but the sudden lurch of movement made her head spin and pulled the muscles across her shoulders and in her thighs as her body tried to move against the bindings.

Trying to ignore her pain she spoke, and her voice was somewhat rough; "Jo, Jo Hallens?"

The voice gasped and she knew it must be her, their latest victim. That was good, in some ways; it meant he hadn't killed another.

"How do you know my name?" Jo asked in a soft voice, this time a lot closer to her.

"I'm an FBI Agent. I was here to help find you. My name's Emily." Emily stated before gritting her teeth against the pain as she lurched again, trying to face the girl; she wasn't having much luck tied like this.

"Well you found me." She joked and Prentiss couldn't help but chuckle, the girl had guts.

"Are you hurt?" She asked, hoping that the UNSUB had not changed this part of his MO and she would remain unharmed...until he killed her. But this time he wouldn't get the chance to, Emily wouldn't, _couldn't_, allow it.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You're the one that's been hog tied and unconscious since you got here."

"I can handle it." She said, dismissing the girl's concern, instead worrying about her. "Are you hurt?" She repeated, wanting an answer.

"N-no. I'm okay." She stuttered slightly.

"Tied up?"

"Yeah." She said, her voice becoming even softer and Emily knew right then that she had obviously tried to set herself free and had, in doing so, gotten hurt. "I tried to reach you, but I can't, it's too far. I already tried."

"How long have I been here?" She asked with a grunt as she tried once more to move herself to face Jo, this time she made it. She surveyed the damage; a few cuts and scrapes but apart from that and the fact that her hands and feet were bound she seemed fine - at least on the surface.

Jo looked up and into the agent's face, trying to pretend they were anywhere but here as worries plagued her: _if she had been kidnapped, too, how could her colleagues find them? _

"You've been here since not long after the sun came up and it's maybe coming up dinner time soon, so not too long. Not as long as I have." She said with an undercurrent of fear in her voice.

"Are you okay, Jo? What did he do to you?" Emily asked softly, both to keep her calm and to try and against the pain in her head when her voice was much louder.

"Nothing." She said quickly and for a second Emily heard confusion in her voice.

"Nothing?"

"He just wanted to play, so I did. It was the only thing I could do to make him not hurt me, I didn't want to end up like-" Her voice quivered and broke as she began to cry and Emily wished she could do something, anything to comfort her.

"Shhh, don't cry; my team's working on finding me, finding _us_. They'll be here. But how about we make sure we're ready for the-"

She was cut off as the door flew open and crashed into the wall behind it sending a wave of pain sweeping through her head as the loud and obtrusive sound echoed in the small room.

"I see our guest's up and awake again, isn't it great to have people to tea Karen?" Asked a man's voice with a slight childlike lilt to it and Prentiss tried to shut out the pain and turn her body to face him; she wanted a good look at this guy. As her muscles groaned and ached she knew she was going to have to take up yoga or something if – _when_ – she got out of here to improve her flexibility, JJ and Garcia had sworn by it so after this was as good a time as any to give it a go. Snapping her mind back to the present she heard Jo speak to the man.

"Y-y-yeah." She stuttered out, playing along and Emily was proud of her, she was trying to be what he wanted her to so he wouldn't hurt her. She just hoped that Jo was playing the part well enough as Emily knew how delicate a balance like this was; if she wasn't exactly like who he was convinced she was then his fantasy would snap and so would he.

Taking another deep breath, Emily bit her tongue and looked up at the man who had entered the room; he had to be close to six foot five and he was quite muscular. He was also what she would call shaggy, hair just a little too long, a few days worth of stubble and some rather questionable clothing. Despite all that he had a somewhat childlike quality to him; it was in his eyes and his crooked smile as he spoke. This Karen was the key to the whole thing; she just hoped the team was somehow closer to finding him.

"Do you want to play too?" He asked Emily eagerly, bending down to look at her face.

Emily refused to answer, hoping to keep his attention on her and away from Jo by any means necessary.

"Didn't you hear me?" He asked, a crease forming between his eyebrows at her lack of response.

When she still didn't reply he spoke again, this time more menacingly: "I asked you a question." He leant down closer to her face and she could see a somewhat feral glint in his eye that hadn't been there before.

"I don't want to." She stated with confidence.

She couldn't help but flinch when he grabbed a fist full of her hair and pulled her face closer to his still. She closed her eyes for an all-too-brief second against the pain that had surged through her head at his actions..

"I said _do you want to play_?" He ground out, his nostrils flaring. He obviously didn't like being ignored.

"And I said I don't want to." She shot back, winching as he yanked on her hair once again. She could feel the wound from earlier re-opening; this wasn't going to be good.

"You _will_ play with us." He said, his eyes flashing with anger as he flung her back to the floor with a crash.

She couldn't help the groan of pain that escaped her lips. He seemed to almost calm at the sound, his eyes losing their anger.

"You have to." He stated calmly. "You will. You will. Karen and I need a play mate." He said, turning to leave the room. As he did he continued to mutter under his breath.

"_She'll play...she will...no she was a mistake...has to go...loose end...she'll play...she will..."_

After the door slammed shut they heard a key turn in the lock.

"He doesn't usually lock it." Jo said, slight panic in her voice.

"He doesn't usually have an FBI agent tied up in here, either." Emily tried for a joke but her wince in pain made the joke fall flat, or maybe it was just the situation.

"Are you okay?" Jo asked in concern. Emily may have just gotten here but she had been trying to save her and she had stood up to him for her; she was a friend, she had come to help, no matter what had happened in the process.

"I'll be fine, a few aspirin and I'll be right as rain." She joked through gritted teeth; her head was throbbing once again and she could feel a small trickle of blood trailing down through her hair.

"If I'd believe that I guess I'd believe anything." She joked back, finding it odd that she was finding humour in a situation as horrible as this but it seemed to be helping her stay calm.

Silence fell on the room then as they both became lost in thought. A few minutes of silence later they heard a door slam somewhere downstairs and Emily spoke.

"My team'll find us." She said with conviction. "They'll find us." She repeated, but this time much quieter before succumbing to the pain in her head and resting it on the floor.

A moment later everything went black for Emily.

"Emily?" Jo called out, slight panic tingeing her voice. There was no reply. "Emily! Talk to me?" She begged as the security that she had felt in having company, living breathing, FBI Agent company in the room with her began to slip. What if Emily didn't wake up again? What if he came back and Emily was unconscious still? Would he get angry again and hurt her? Would he take her away and leave her all by herself again? She didn't think she could take that, the silence and the fear of never seeing another person - her mum, her dad, her best friend – ever again. "Emily, please..." she begged again as she tried, unsuccessfully to hold back the tears.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: **Thanks very much for the reviews and alerts folks! We're almost there now! Thanks to sangreal7 again for the read-through :)_

____

_****_

Chapter 5

Emily groaned out at the pain that was jabbing a sharp stick into her brain as she felt like her world was shaking. She tried to focus on her surroundings once again, wondering how long she'd been out. When she finally managed to open her eyes and the light in the room had dimmed considerably and there was a niggling voice in the back of her head telling her that they were running out of time.

"Emily," She tried to turn her head at the soft sound of her name, "Emily, wake up, there's something going on."

"I'm awake." She said groggily as she realised that her world shaking had in fact been Jo trying to wake her.

"Something's going on." The young girl said again and this time Emily's groggy brain heard the fear in her voice and so she forced all of her pain into one of her mental compartments and threw away the key...she just hoped it would stay 'locked' long enough for her to work out what the girl meant. It was a second later that her sluggish mind put two and two together:

"You're over here..." She said, her brow furrowing in confusion, opening her eyes to look up at the twelve year old.

"I managed to get my hands out of the ties." She said with a pleased smile. After she had broken down in tears over being alone once more a strange sense of calm and determination had set in; she was going to help Emily get them out of here and the first step had been to escape the ropes.

"I'm impressed." Emily said, with a proud smile up at the girl. She had more guts than Emily knew she had had at that age, hell she had more guts than most people Emily knew now.

"I wanted to help get us out of here; because there's two of us and one of him, but there's something going on and I don't know what it is...I think I heard him say that somebody's coming but I couldn't make out anything else. He's mad, and he's pacing and...and...I'm scared." She admitted in a soft voice, as if even more afraid to voice her worry. Emily could hear the terror in the little girl's voice and wished so much that she could make it disappear.

"Jo, we're going to try and work out what's going on, but first I need you to try and untie me, can you do that?" Emily asked softly.

"I- I can try." She replied, trying to keep tears at bay and Emily wished she could offer some sort of comfort.

"Okay, I need you to –" Emily stopped herself mid sentence as she heard a door downstairs slam again and heavy footsteps on the stairs. "Jo I need you to get back to where you were, loop the rope around your wrists loosely and when he comes in I want you to play along just like you did earlier, okay?"

Jo nodded as she quickly complied with Emily's instructions. It was just in time as not a second after she was back in her original position the footsteps stopped outside the door and the key turned in the lock. This time the door was shoved open with such force that some of the plaster from the wall behind it was dislodged.

Wincing against the pain once again caused by the loud noise, Emily forced herself to look up at him with an air of defiance about her; she had to keep him focused on her for as long as possible.

"You've brought _bad people_ to us!" He suddenly shrieked at the bound profiler and from the look in his eyes Emily knew that the man he really was was gone now and all that was left was the part of his brain ravaged by whatever had led him to commit these murders. "You shouldn't have done that...it's not what's supposed to happen!"

"I didn't bring them here; you did when you brought me here. You brought them to this place." She challenged, pinning her hopes on it being the right thing to say to keep him focused on her. She wished her head wasn't still swirling with pain so that she could gauge his reaction more easily and know where to prod her sharp stick.

"You ruined everything! Karen and I were going to run away, we were going to be like we always were and you've ruined it!" He yelled as tears covered his eyes.

"I didn't ruin anything, you ruined it for yourself by kidnapping a federal agent. You brought them here, not me." She challenged again, assuming he had realised that the police were looking for him more closely now. She saw the glint in his eyes too late to steel her body for the blow that came as he lashed out, his booted foot coming into fierce contact with her ribcage.

She stifled the yell she wanted to let loose by biting her lip between her teeth. The tangy metallic taste of blood in her mouth increased as she bit down harder with each blow he rained upon her. He had snapped, of that she was sure.

"I can take it." She said during the small respite when he pulled his leg back for another kick, telling a now screaming Jo that she was fine, that she could handle this. "I can take it." She choked out once again when his boot collided with her side; she was almost certain a few ribs had been at least cracked then.

"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING." He roared, completely breaking and this time he let his fists and his feet rain down on her in innumerable blows. He grabbed her by her hair to give himself better leverage, hoisting her twisted body into the air.

"Run." Emily mouthed as she managed to force herself to look at Jo. "Run." She repeated, hoping that in his state of rage he would be so focused on the pain he was inflicting that he wouldn't notice the young girl.

She looked terrified and when she hesitated for a second, her fear almost paralyzing her Emily looked at her with beseeching eyes and shouted at the man who had her by the hair:

"I didn't ruin _anything_, you did it all yourself." She roared through the pain, hoping to distract him long enough so that Jo could make a break for it.

When the next blow hit her solidly and all the air was forced from her lungs on a yell she saw him freeze for a split second at the sound and her heart almost thundered to a stop: Jo had only just made it to the door, she wasn't safe yet and he was no longer focused on her. _Oh shit!_

"No!" He yelled, flinging her to the floor. Her head bounced off the hard wood causing her to see stars, as he saw his 'Karen' almost out of the door.

"RUN!" Emily screamed through the pain. It was all the push Jo needed, flinging herself out the door as the man turned to follow.

When he disappeared out the door Emily tried to move, tried to pull against her bindings to get free, not caring that they were digging in and that she could feel her skin burning as she did so or that her head was banging off the ground with each unsuccessful attempt to shuffle forwards. She had to do _something._ She was running on pure adrenaline and she knew it wasn't going to last much longer as the darkness began creeping into her vision once again.

"No!" She gasped softly when she heard a gunshot resonate from the lower floor. Tears finally fell, tears for the pain, tears for the little girl that had no doubt been on the other end of that gunshot, tears for herself; knowing that he would come back for her and tears for her team who would find her like this eventually.

She had always wondered what she would be like if ever faced with a situation such as this; this was certainly not what she'd expected. She hadn't expected her compartments to come flying open and all of her thoughts to jumble together into one big mess of sadness and regret. She had thought she would be able to fight it, to be strong until the very last second; but now as breathing got harder and her head pounded angrily she wanted nothing more to succumb to the darkness that was blurring the edges of her vision.

That was why when a hazy image appeared in front of her face she was sure it had to be her bruised and battered mind playing tricks on her, because JJ couldn't be here, could she? That wasn't possible, she wasn't with the team anymore...it had to be a trick of the mind...As she tried to force her brain to focus on the fuzzy image in front of her it sounded angrily back at her, sending another wave of pain rolling through her body before everything went dark and her eyes fluttered shut. She was vaguely aware of familiar voices calling out and of hurried footsteps before the sound disappeared into the blackness as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: **__Thanks for the reviews and alerts folks! Big up to klcm and sangreal7 for encouraging me on this chapter! :)  
__**  
Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds**_

_****_

Chapter 6

After pacing the hospital corridor for far too long – so long she was sure that she must have left an imprint on the floor – JJ finally sagged into one of the rickety waiting room chairs with a sigh. They were all still keyed up from the rescue and added to that was the nerves that were running high as they waited for any news on Prentiss. She'd been rushed into surgery the second she had been wheeled in and they had yet to hear anything. JJ couldn't help her mind from pouring back over the rescue as she tortured herself with what she could have done to get them to her that little bit faster. Maybe getting her to the hospital that little bit sooner would have made all the difference in her current condition.

* * *

She and Garcia had pulled over when they reached the rendezvous point where the rest of the team and some police officers were stationed minutes before the rest were preparing to move in. Hotch had merely nodded at her as she took her weapon from her holster, grabbed a spare vest and suited up. There was going to be no arguing with her and he knew when to pick his battles plus having someone like JJ with them would be a great asset if Jo Hallens was still in the building.

And so, with Garcia waiting in the back of one of the SUVs with a local cop the rest of them had discussed the plan of attack: they would split off into two groups, one half taking the back the other going in the front.

"Keep as silent as possible." Hotch repeated, "we don't want him to know we're coming until we're already on top of him."

A round of nods met his words as they all slipped into their roles. They had a job to do.

JJ was following behind Rossi and Reid as they quickly and quietly made their way through the undergrowth, heading up towards the house. The quiet was broken by sudden shouting from inside.

"YOU RUINED EVERYTHING." Almost echoed in the quiet area and with that the agents all broke into a run to cover the last few hundred metres as fast as possible. It was a matter of necessity that they make it inside quickly.

Sprinting to the back door Rossi motioned for her to take the other side and after a swift push of the unlocked door the three of them flew inside, guns at the ready as they scoped the kitchen area.

"RUN!" They heard Emily scream and they moved towards her voice, making their way into the next room along. A moment later there was banging as someone came flying down the stairs and the three agents moved towards the noise fearlessly.

A young girl that they had all come to know as Jo Hallens came careering down the stairs and within seconds the man they knew to be Gary Fraser charged after her.

"STOP! Mr Fraser, stay where you are and put your hands on your head." Rossi commanded.

The man stilled for a second, and that second allowed Jo to make it safely to Morgan and Hotch who had appeared from the next room.

However, he didn't stay still for long and the sound of a gunshot echoed in the stair well before Fraser fell. JJ was charging past him before he hit the floor.

Emily was up there and she needed their help.

When Garcia took her hand in hers, giving it a soft squeeze, it pulled JJ from her thoughts and immediately flashed her back to a time when Garcia and Emily had been in opposite positions; one holding a hand, comforting while the other lay on a stainless steel table being operated on. It never got any easier, that was for sure. The waiting and the not knowing was still as utterly terrifying as it had been then.

This time they were all plagued by self questioning doubts; what if I'd figured it out sooner? What if I'd only just taken another look at those maps? What if I hadn't gone straight to that room?

What if we'd been too late?

That was the main question that was plaguing them. Although they knew, from the paramedics that had attended the scene, that they had just gotten there in the nick of time, Emily still wasn't out of the woods yet. With several broken or cracked ribs, a punctured lung, severe bruising and a head wound, as well as possible internal bleeding, she still had a lot to fight through. So that question remained though slightly changed: _what if we were too late, still?  
_  
Taking a look around, the strain of the situation was obvious on each of them. Reid was staring at the floor, so many emotions flying through his dark eyes. Morgan was leaning against the wall rigidly, his persona of the "macho man" not reaching his eyes. Hotch was sitting back in one of the chairs, his tie loosened and his face weary with worry. Rossi had taken up pacing up and down the hall now and she was certain there would be indents there before the end of the night.

Feeling a soft squeeze of her hand, JJ looked up from the spot she had been staring at on the floor to meet Garcia's eyes.

"She'll pull through, Jayje. She's strong and she's a fighter; she's not gonna let something like that get her down." Garcia said with feeling as her eyes shone with unshed tears.

"I know she will. She's tough." She replied, squeezing back before pulling the redhead into a warm hug. They clung to each other, holding on for dear life when the vibrating of JJ's phone sounded harsh and loud in the otherwise silent room. She cursed herself for laying it down on the table in the first place.

Garcia pulled back with a watery smile as she spotted the caller ID; "You better get that Jayje, your man'll need the dets."

"Thanks." She mouthed as she stood up and made her way outside to take her call.

"Cheri, tell me what's happening?" The familiar southern accented voice sounded in her ear.

"We got her, she's safe." She replied, taking a deep breath to try and calm the racing emotions down.

"That's good, Jen, real good." He said softly as he sighed in relief.

"Yeah." She replied so very softly that he knew she was fighting back tears. "She's in surgery. She has a nasty head wound and they said something about a punctured lung and possible internal bleeding but I lost track after that..."

"She's a fighter, Jen; remember that; she'll be awake in no time and trying to get out of that hospital bed." He replied and was rewarded with a soft, somewhat watery, chuckle.

"Yeah." She said somewhat happier. "You're right, she will be. How's my little guy doing?" She asked, moving the subject away from the stressful and worrying situation and on to happier things instead. Anything to distract herself from seeing the images of Emily's bound and badly beaten body and she succumbed to the dark over and over again in her mind's eye.

"He's been great, playing away and watching his cartoons." Will replied, taking her lead.

There was some muffled conversation on the other end before two words melted her heart; "Hi Momma." It was just what she needed at that moment.

"Hey baby, you being good for Daddy?"

"Uh huh. I always being good for daddy." Came the soft reply, punctuated by a giggle and JJ was sucked away into one of her personal bubbles of calm.

"Good boy, now give the phone back to daddy and I'll see you soon. Love you, slugger."

"Lobe you, Mommy." He replied in what JJ thought was the cutest little voice and just like that the tears that had been threatening to fall burst free from her lashes and began to follow well worn paths down her cheeks.

"Jayje?" Will asked concernedly when he was handed back the phone.

"I'm fine, Will, honest I'm fine." She replied automatically.

"No, you're not. But you will be. On you go, get back in there and keep us updated; I don't think it's the best place for Henry to be right now, we'll wait until you can give us any more news."

"Good idea, Mr Mom." She joked, trying to ease the tension she was feeling. It lowered slightly at the sound of his throaty laugh.

"I've gotta go." She said, hanging up suddenly as she spotted Hotch coming towards her, his stoic expression giving nothing away.

"What is it Hotch?" She asked, almost afraid of what he was going to say.

"The doctors need to speak to us." He said flatly and at JJ's imploring look her continued, "I wish I knew more JJ but that's all they've said."

"They need to talk to us." She repeated to herself as she followed Hotch's retreating back. "That could still be good news." She muttered under her breath, hoping to convince herself.

"I'm so very sorry to have kept you all waiting." Dr. Michaels said as he entered the small waiting room to face the six agents. It was one of the most intimidating rooms he'd ever walked into, despite how obviously upset they all were. They cut an impressive shape no matter how emotional, it seemed.

"It's fine doctor." JJ said, standing up to shake the proffered hand, "What can you tell us?" She asked very professionally, using 'Agent Jareau' as a shield to try and soften the blow of whatever news he was going to offer, from his body language alone JJ was already well past the worried stage.

"I'm really sorry but we couldn't save her." He said with compassion. As Garcia began sobbing and Reid swiped harshly at his cheeks as tears pooled in his eyes, Morgan had to leave the room, pushing past the doctor and they all flinched at the bang that followed as he took out his frustration on the wall. Hotch and Rossi's expressions grew graver and JJ tried with all her might to keep listening to the explanation that Dr Michaels was giving.

"_...she fought hard..."_ Of course she did, it's Emily; she couldn't give up without a fight.

"_...we lost her a few times..."_ JJ's breathing began to hitch at his words.

"_...we thought she was in the clear..." _The first tears began to fall silently down her cheeks at how close a call it could have been.

"_...she coded once she was moved to the ICU..." _

"_...couldn't be revived. I'm so very sorry for your loss."_It was then that she broke completely, falling back into the, equally distraught, arms of Garcia.

This wasn't supposed to happen. Even though they had each known that this was a possibility at the end of it all, none of them had really entertained the idea, instead it had been pushed to the furthest recesses of their brains. And now it was being thrust harshly into the light and with it came the tears, the anger and the helplessness.

After what felt like an eternity of tears later, JJ broke free of the embrace – that had become more of a group hug when Morgan and Reid were pulled in by Garcia – and turned to face Dr Michaels.

"Can we see her?" She almost whispered.

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"At least let one of us see her, we're not going to leave until someone has so you may as well give in now." Rossi said, stepping forward between JJ and Dr Michaels.

"Only one person and I'd like to reiterate that it's not a good idea."

"We know what you said Doctor," Rossi interrupted the man, "now please, just take me to her."

* * *

About twenty minutes later, after many tried and failed attempts by the rest of them to go and see Emily, Rossi appeared back; his eyes hollow and his expression sad.

He shook his head softly, "You don't need to see that. Honestly, it's–"

Hotch clamped a hand down on his shoulder, stopping him from attempting to find the words.

A soft tap at the door caused them all to turn in tandem.

"I'm really sorry." Will said as he entered with Henry balanced on his hip, nodding in thanks to Hotch for alerting him to the situation as he headed for JJ.

The second he made it within a steps distance away she had curled her head under his neck, seeking warmth and comfort. He pulled her towards him with his free hand as he pressed a kiss to her temple.

"It's going to be alright, Jay-Jay." He whispered into her golden hair. "It's going to be alright."

_There are things we don't want to happen but have to accept...things we don't want to know but have to learn...__**people we can't live without but have to let go**__..._

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_a/n #2: *hides behind the couch* um...yeah...don't kill me please...thanks...lol_


	8. Chapter 8

_**A/N: **__This is the first full multi-chapter story I've written (and finished) in quite some time so THANK YOU lot for coming on this ride with me. Literally think I'm JUST in time before "Lauren" airs...phew! That was my aim. Anyways, here we go...  
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Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds**_

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Chapter 7

It had been seven months, twenty four days, 17 hours and 5 minutes since she had been back here, and here she was in Quantico, back and very much _alive_.

As she stalked down the dark hallway flanked by Sean, Tsia and Jeffery, all ready to put an end to this once and for all she couldn't help but remember the moment her life no longer became her life.

The last thing she could remember was seeing the vague outline of JJ was standing above her, and thinking how impossible that was and just how bad her head injury must have been for that to happen. And the next thing after that was when she was waking up in a bright white hospital room to see her old boss from Interpol sitting in the chair opposite her bed.

She had groaned at the bright lights as they caused the pain in her head to flare up once again, and the groan itself caused her ribs to send a jolt of pain down her side. One thing she knew for sure in that second was that she wasn't going anywhere fast, or soon. She was only partly right.

"Doyle's on his way to the States, we know he's coming but we don't know which one of us he's coming for first."

There was no greeting, there was no preamble; it was straight to the point with Sean, just like it always was.

"You're injured, you won't be able to protect yourself like this and I know you, Emily, you won't want your team involved."

She nodded swiftly in reply, flinching in pain as her head pounded once more.

"And so, the only option we feel available to you is a safe house." When he saw her about to protest he ploughed on: "a safe house, at least until you are better. _Then_, and only then, you can help us finally put him behind bars. No more running, not anymore."

"Do I have a choice in this?" She croaked out, her voice hoarse from the sedatives.

"Not really, no." He replied with a rough laugh. "Well it's either this or we use your team an-"

"No." She interrupted him, not letting his thought go any further. "I will not put them at risk, not any more than I already have."

"I thought you'd say that."

"How do we know that he won't figure it out? He figured out that Lauren Reynolds wasn't dead, what's to stop him finding out that I am...whoever I will be?"

"There's only the two of us in here and the doctor we brought on to your care is with us. Apart from the three of us nobody else will know you survived. And this time you won't need a new identity. You're going to be a nobody, a phantom amongst society, until we bring Ian Doyle down, and we _will_ bring him down...hard."

"They're going to want proof that I'm dead. My team won't let it rest until at least one of them has seen it with their own eyes."

"That's been taken care of."

"Taken care of?" She questioned although she wasn't sure if she wanted to know the answer.

"A woman of similar build and hair colour was brought in after a car crash not long before you were admitted. We've had her on ice in case the opportunity arose. She was so battered and bruised that a positive ID is impossible unless DNA-"

"I get it." She said; shivering at the thought as her stomach rolled; she wished she hadn't asked.

It was less than half an hour later that Sean wheeled her out of the hospital with bandages commonly worn after plastic surgeries covering her face and her dark hair hidden under a light brown wig. Even though there reports said that Doyle wasn't in the country yet they couldn't be too careful.

As he wheeled her towards a beat up blue mustang she caught a glimpse of the team leaving the main entrance, their shoulders slumped and their eyes puffy from tears. She couldn't help the traitorous tear that fled her own eye as she turned away from the sight; this was for the best. They'd be safer without her, safer with her dead.

* * *

She shook herself from her thoughts to focus on the task at hand. This would be her defining moment, of that she was certain. She'd either make it out of this a _somebody_ or she wouldn't make it out at all.

And the second option just wasn't an option in her mind.

It had been seven months, thirty days, 17 hours and 5 minutes since Dr. Michaels had informed them that Emily Prentiss hadn't made it. And it hadn't gotten any easier to accept.

Her desk had remained empty; no new member had been drafted in nor had there been any indication that such a thing would occur. That was why it was such a shock when, walking back into the bullpen after what had been another gruelling case, there was someone sitting in her chair.

Pulling himself up to his full height and heading towards the intruder, Morgan tried to keep his emotions in check. Nobody could and ever would replace his partner. It wasn't going to happen. He froze, however, when the woman lifted her head.

"JJ?" He asked in confusion, wracking his brain for reason as to why she was here.

"Hey." She said with a smile. "You wanted me to meet you here?" She asked, her brow furrowing in confusion at the slightly confused looks on each member of the teams' faces.

"I didn't arrange anything..." Morgan said, looking around at the rest of them waiting for someone to jump in. Nobody did.

"I see my merry band of profilers has returned." Garcia said, coming out of the conference room with a grin.

"What's the matter Baby Girl?" Morgan asked immediately, his voice full of concern at her slightly puffy eyes from crying.

"Nothing's the matter, Hot Stuff. In fact things couldn't be better."

"Garcia," JJ said softly. "You know you can tell us anything. What's wrong?"

"Someone else can explain it more clearly." She said cryptically as she turned on her heel and made her way into the conference room.

They all looked to Morgan who merely shrugged and they headed after Garcia. It was sometimes better not to question the Goddess of the All Knowing and instead to just follow blindly. All would be revealed in the end, it always was.

"So what's this all ab-" JJ's question died on her lips and her jaw almost hit the floor at the sight before her.

It _looked_ like Emily, in fact it looked _exactly_ like Emily. But that wasn't possible.

"How is this possible?" Reid almost squeaked as his eyes landed on Prentiss who squirmed a little bit under their gazes.

She opened her mouth to talk, once, twice, three times and nothing came out. She didn't think she would be this nervous. She was just so glad to see them, to be back and _alive_ that she was struggling to explain. Explaining would bring it all back, make it all real once again and she wasn't sure she was quite ready for that, though she knew that they deserved the full explanation.

"It seems our very own Emily Prentiss has been rather busy lately." Garcia said with a small smile knowing that she must have looked exactly like the rest of them when she'd entered her office to find her supposedly dead friend very much alive and sitting in her spiny chair. "Seems even dead people can have some fun." She quipped and when she heard Emily wince slightly she added, "Too soon?"

That gained a chuckle from the collective group and eased the tension a little, and that was all Emily needed. Within seconds she was pouring out the story, her story; from her Interpol days and Doyle all the way up until present day and how she had come to be back here, alive. Her story was peppered with different reactions from her friends - her family, really – gasps punctuated certain comments, swift shakes of the heads others as they all soaked in the information. She could almost hear the cogs of their brain's turning madly as they tried to garner all the information she was flinging at them and process it.

"We finally cornered him and two of his cronies by luring them to a place we knew well. He thought he was indestructible, but not when your prey controls the environment. And the rest, as they say, is history. Interpol's dealing with tracking down his remaining contacts but Sean reckons, and I agree, that they're nothing without him so they're not going to cause trouble for us."

When she finished there was a moment's lull where the air in the room seemed to still. She smiled that half smile as she looked down at the ground that told them more than any of her words could; she was worried; worried they wouldn't take her back, worried they would think less of her, and worried that this would change things forever.

She needn't have and each and every one of them was washed away when she caught movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up just in time to catch the blonde as JJ flung herself at her, clinging on for dear life as if to check she was definitely there and not a figment of her imagination.

"Don't ever do that again." JJ spoke low in her ear before pulling back, tears falling freely down her cheeks as she held her friend at arm's length to get a good look at her. "You, Emily Prentiss, are insane. We would've helped you, without a doubt."

"I didn't want you to get hurt." She mumbled, fully realising now just how much she had obviously hurt them in faking her own death as she looked around at the faces of her friends, colleagues and family.

Morgan was trying to pretend he wasn't holding back some tears while Hotch's usual mask had slipped and she could see the mix of shock and relief plainly on his face. Reid Rossi was smiling, a full blown smile but it didn't quite reach his eyes and she recognised the hurt that was in them, he had been the one to see her body after all. She just wished he'd never had to go through that. In fact she wished that none of them had had to go through _any_ of this. However, that would involve turning back time to stop Doyle from entering her life and that was 'outwith the realms of possibilty' as Reid would say. She knew now more than ever that even if she could she wouldn't want to. She wouldn't have met these wonderful people if she hadn't been a part of that mission many years ago, and she wouldn't change that for the world.

These people surrounding her were her true family and she would spend the rest of her life working with and protecting them, being there for them and asking for help when she needed it. After all they deserved that much and so much more for all the emotional turmoil of the past seven months, thirty days, 17 hours and 5 minutes.

"We're just glad you're alive, Emily." Hotch said with a smile.

"Me too, me too." She replied with a smile.

"So who's up for drinks?" JJ asked with a smile as her eyes still shone with tears.

As they walked as one group out through the BAU bullpen Emily couldn't help the smile that was on her face. She knew that there would be a way to go and that she would have some more in depth and lengthier conversations about the past seven months to come but right now, surrounded by the people she loved she was just so very glad to be alive and a somebody once more.

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_**a/n #2**_: _I totally couldn't just KILL her! lol_


End file.
